Motivation, Performance Goals and Mastery Goals - Essay Example

Wade and Tavris (2010) have discussed extensively the various determinants in predicting a lasting and enduring performance in any endeavor served to people from all walks of life.

Performance Goals. The performance involves both the behavioral aspect and the outcome. For instance, a teacher presents an insightful story to his or her students (behavioral performance). However, because two of his or her students are deaf, they could not receive the same learning that their other classmates have (outcome aspect). That is the same in performance goals (Wade & Tavris, 2010, p. 256). People have different performance goals no matter how alike their performances are. For instance, both corporate and executive secretaries delivered flawless meeting minutes and performed excellently in their jobs. Their performance goals differ since the other secretary wants to be promoted immediately and outdo the executive secretary while the other needs to support her family, thus, superb performance. Talent and ambition are important in facing hurdles in employment and other fields, but getting through the hardships is dependent on the individual’s performance goals.

Mastery Goals. Students and employees also differ in their mastery goals. While performance goals involve performing excellently to achieve vested interests such as excelling over others, mastery goals entitle everyone to develop their competence in different fields (Wade & Tavris, 2010). These people who want to attain their mastery goals are those who are passionate about their craft and are focused on it and not on other people. In facing difficulties and challenges, they stick to their goal of harnessing themselves so that they can master their skills and talents accordingly. They are also not task or ego-involved, which means that they do their part not because they want to confirm something to themselves like completing a task confirming their intelligence, but because they want to excel in their craft (Wade & Tavris, 2010).

The Effect of Praise. Wade and Tavris (2010) also discussed the importance of praise in individual performance and motivation. Both affirm that positive feedback enhances people’s intrinsic motivation. True enough, research conducted by Henderlong and Lepper (2002) reveals that children who were constantly bombarded with praises enhanced their self-perception that those praises affirm their views towards themselves, and as a result, they tend to involve themselves in the task of which they were praised.

Expectations and self-efficacy. People also differ in handling situations and tasks because they have different expectations and measurements of their ability to complete a particular task or self-efficacy. A theoretical approach by psychologist Albert Bandura suggests that success in completing a task depends on one’s belief in succeeding in that task while the Attribution theory affirms one’s self-efficacy in facing the task, as evidenced by the so-called locus of control (Wade & Tavris, 2010). A successful person has an internal locus of control, which means that they perceive the success or failure of a task based on their perception towards themselves plus their ability to solve the problem themselves. They do not attribute success or failure to external factors but to their skills and talents. Read More